Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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317. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has engaged with the Minister for Social Protection to devise a scheme to immediately continue supporting artists and performance workers whose ability to work remains restricted or limited; if so, the reason no scheme has yet been designed as many artists were set to receive their last pandemic unemployment payment in the week commencing 25 October 2021; if she and or the Arts Council has engaged with artists and representative bodies to ensure necessary supports are in place to sustain the sector. [52292/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a social welfare payment and is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Social Protection. At its meeting of 19th of October Government agreed that the remaining aspects of the hospitality, entertainment and night-time economy sector could reopen from October 22nd with the full range of protective measures in place and the wide and robust implementation of the COVID-19 pass. This represents an important next step towards the full reopening of our economy and our society, and is a crucial opportunity for returning to work for the live entertainment and events sector. Government's aim has been to allow as many businesses as possible reopen in the safest possible way, and importantly - stay open.

With the gradual lifting of restrictions over recent months, the number of customers receiving PUP has dropped significantly. In line with the Government’s Economic Recovery Plan, the PUP is gradually changing using a tapered approach from September 2021 until February 2022 to align it with standard jobseeker’s payments

I was very cognisant of the challenges the restrictions caused for the live entertainment industry in 2021 and I allocated over €60m to support the sector. The Arts Council was provided with a historic level of funding for 2021 of €130m which has been retained for 2022 to continue to support artists as the sector recovers. I have allocated €25m for the live entertainment sector in 2022 and I am examining the supports in place for the sector to ensure that available resources are best deployed to meet the needs of the sector to ensure a full recovery is possible.

Other priorities for Budget 2022 was to secure €25m in funding for a pilot Basic Income Guarantee Scheme for artists and arts workers and to secure funding to support the full recovery of the arts/culture and live entertainment sectors in 2022. The pilot scheme was the number one recommendation of 10 recommendations made in the Life Worth Living report, published in November 2020 by the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce. I am currently reviewing the interim report of the Oversight Group to determine which model will be most appropriate for the pilot scheme. Once that has been established it will be possible to provide further information on the specifics of the scheme. It is anticipated that up to 2,000 participants will be able to avail of the pilot scheme.

COVID-19 infection rates are once again increasing along with hospitalisation and ICU admissions. While the exceptional levels of engagement with the Vaccination Programme allowed us to continue our careful and gradual approach to re-opening we must all redouble our efforts to protect ourselves, our families and our communities. I know the night-time economy sector which includes so many businesses have been patient and have looked forward to full and un-restricted reopening, and the Government's most recent decision on re-opening has allowed many working in the entertainment and cultural sector to return to work. We must continue to exercise caution as we move forward, with the ultimate goal of a full, unrestricted and safe re-opening of all aspects of society, including arts and entertainment.